Tributes were held ahead of kick-off in his memory with a minute’s silence, while players wore black armbands and supporters paid their respects during the game to celebrate his two WSL titles with the club.
Following the victory on Merseyside, Taylor gave his reaction to the win and the difficulty of the last few days – read on below…
On the victory and it feeling like a bit more than ‘just a result’…
Absolutely. I think it’s been a real rollercoaster of emotions over the last few days to be honest. Matt meant a lot to so many people. I was really fond of him. I played with his brother professionally. I think it’s rocked a lot of people and it’s so, so difficult for the group and for the players today to go out and play so soon after it happening. I think that performance tonight was very good. It spoke volumes. I said to the girls afterwards that Matt would’ve been really proud of that.
On how difficult the last few days have been for everyone at the club…
It’s an individual thing. I think that everyone feels different. Everyone would’ve had certain relationships with Matt. As an example, Fisky [Grace Fisk] would’ve played under him twice, same as Leanne [Kiernan]. It’s probably going to effect those guys a little bit more because the more you know someone and the better you know someone the harder it feels when you lose them.
It’s been tough. I’m not going to lie. I think we’ve been open and we’ve been honest with each other. We’ve been open to allowing grief because it can effect you in different ways. I’ve just felt an immense feeling of pride throughout this period. This club is so special. I was at the men’s first team game last night for the minute’s silence, which was impeccable. It puts things in perspective for sure. But it also makes you feel really humbled by the support, the supporters we have, the support of the club and just the way the girls have reacted has been incredible.
Like I say, I’m really proud of them and the club is really proud of everyone here. We will try and look after each other and support each other really, really well. That is something that Liverpool does to high levels.
